Phoenix and Fairy----True Blood Season 7 episode 1
by angie9281
Summary: Takes place after events of TB season 6...Pam is desperate to find and save Eric from the terrible burning he suffered after the effects of Warlow's blood wore off. writing this how i would love to see things go down...hope you enjoy! 10 months until the real season seven is far too long!
1. Burned

**Chapter 1 **

The chill in the air would certainly not be a concern for her as she made her way upwards, deeper into the mountain range. She prayed that she was not too late. Though she had been released some time ago, she would always be bonded to him and it was through her intuition that she hoped she was right in guessing where he was.

"Fucking rocks…..ruining my shoes." Pam muttered as she kicked some of the snow off of her shoes. She had not planned for mountain climbing or any real outdoorsy activity. But she had had little time to lose. The sunlight hit her hard but to no effect. It would go down soon, she knew. As she flew overhead, she felt the heat. The magic of the fairy blood was extinguished and she felt her flesh beginning to burn.. "No….." she whispered. And she heard it, the screams of pain and agony. He was close, very close. There came a burst of fire from a mountaintop almost a mile away. Ignoring her own blistering and burning, she soon landed beside the rapidly burning form of her maker and longtime companion. She cringed at the sight of his bones through the burnt off skin and muscle. He had apparently been trying to punch down deep into the rock and snow. But the flames were intense and Pam had to finish his work.

As fast as she could, Pam managed to get a 12 foot deep chasm into the mountain and shoved Eric down, his body extinguished by the snow and cold. As he landed with a dull thud, she followed suit, grateful for the thick layers of ice and snow that were around them. She punched a deep tunnel, out of the reach of the sun and in that hidey-hole, she was finally able to relax for a moment. She rolled over to look at him and bloody tears were forming in her eyes. It was not looking good, as strong as he was, she also knew that it would take a great deal for him to come back from something like this. Until the sun set, she stroked his singed and bloody blonde hair and sobbed. "Why did you leave…..why…." and she fell asleep snuggled close to him, biting her wrist, she put it to his lips and let the blood trickled into his mouth, which she had to open herself. Apparently he had been burning longer than she realized and didn't want to think about if she had come to the scene even a few moments later what she would have found. If anything. Pam knew that there was one who could heal him faster, whose blood would work better than her own. But she had questions as to if Sookie even would care about the situation he was in now. If she even gave a shit about him any longer.

The light waned and as total darkness filled the icy tomb, Pam was startled by a sudden movement. "Who's there?" Eric asked weakly, his eyes closed. He still looked terrible, her blood seemingly having little success thus far.

"It's me…what in the hell were you thinking, coming here. Not knowing if the fairy blood, Lilith blood, whatever blood it was, was going to last long. It was suicidal."

He finally managed to turn his head towards her and managed to slightly open his blue eyes. "I honestly didn't care if I burned or not, Pam. What do I have left? I wanted to have a moment of peace, tranquility. Whatever would come would come."

She was startled by his reply. "You've given up. Its not like you to give up…"

"What do I have to live for now? I do care for you. And Tara. And Willa. But with the losses I sustained. Nora…and you're right, I did care more about Fangtasia than I would admit."

Pam looked at him as he trailed off. "Sookie. You're missing her, aren't you? Rumor has it she's started seeing that fur ball Alcide."

He looked at her and she couldn't bear to look at the emotion filling his eyes. "Then maybe you should have left me up there. I would not have left you back at vamp camp if I didn't think you three ladies were not capable of taking care of each other. You are my family."

"And there, you see? You have not lost everything." Pam paused. "Perhaps I can get Sookie to come here, you are in no shape to go to Bon Temps. I can get back here fast. I made it here in a couple of hours."

He arched a eyebrow and smirked weakly. "Perhaps you are faster than I could have ever given you credit for…" he winced as he tried to fight through the pain. He became motionless as Pam tried to get him to speak again. So long as he was here like this, she knew he was alive.

"I'll hurry back. I promise." Pam said. With a last, worried look at the ailing Viking, she took off, flying up and out of the mountains of Sweden, moving as fast as she could.


	2. Changes

**Chapter 2**

Sookie and Alcide were on their first date as they walked hand in hand through the park. Things were back to normal, or at least what passed for normal in this town. Bill was back to his normal, gentler self and it would take time, but Sookie felt hopeful that their friendship would be restored. He had even offered to help protect her from the hordes of hungry and hep-v infected vamps that were out there. She would never tell him, but she was touched by the gesture and could feel in her heart that the goodness in him was indeed restored and was grateful for the destruction of everything he inherited from Lilith.

"Nice night. Saw hungry vamps, saw them scared off by Mayor Sam…..can't believe Sam is the mayor of this town. Lot of changes….." Alcide said. "Never boring I guess."

Sookie nodded, her thoughts racing through her head. He left her on her front porch stoop and kissed her good night. "See ya tomorrow then? She asked hopefully.

He grinned back at her. "You betcha. And since the vamps are back in the dark now, I guess it will be a peaceful afternoon. Or not." he shrugged as he got into his pickup truck, honking the horn as he flew down the driveway. Smiling to herself, she entered her home and went to the kitchen table, her mail piled up from several days. Rifling through, she sorted the junk from the important stuff, opening a envelope containing something that was promised that would come. As she looked at the bottom of the deed to the house, seeing the signature of her ex lover pained her more than she expected. Bill had told her that Eric had managed to escape from the so called "Vamp Camp". she didn't know much of what went on there but had a hunch that it was certainly not a pleasant experience for any of the vamps involved.

As much as she was enjoying the rekindling of the brief romance she had had before with Alcide, seeing Eric's name written in his own hand on the deed was enough to make her stop and think. Think of how callous her behavior towards him had been since the night he walked her home, even offering her money to leave the town for somewhere safer. All he wanted was to protect her and she had come to emotionally shut herself off from anything that had to do with him. Even telling Bill to take the fairy enhanced blood from Eric to save the vampires during the vamp camp tribulations. "I miss him." she whispered to no one, taking the paper in her hands, she wandered to the armoire that hid the cubby down in the basement he himself had had installed. As she fingered the latch softly, a knock at the door broke her from her reverie.

"Hello Sookie." Pam was at the door looking weary. They had somehow gotten on hugging terms in the aftermath of the vamp camp and she again hugged Sookie. "I need to talk to you. It's urgent. Invite me in."

Sookie obliged as a panicked Pam paced back and forth in the kitchen. She happened to have some True Blood left over from the amnesiac Eric days and offered one to Pam, who looked at it with more than a little disgust. "Its not poisoned or anything. I heard about the hep v and all that-"

"I'm doing what Eric did, eating organic. Not killing anyone, don't worry your pretty blonde head. I came to ask you to come with me. It's Eric."

Sookie didn't like the sound of fear in the voice of Pam. "What's wrong?"

Pam sighed and gave a recap of the things that went on in the camp, the death of Nora in his arms, the torture he had been in in being so helpless. "And then there's you. I think that you are the only reason he would want to live. Ever since he met you, there's been something in him I have never seen in him before. And as much as we may get along now, I think your treatment of him as of late has made him a little….suicidal. Couple that with everything else he has gone though in his long, long life…."

Her eyes fell downward, tearing up. "I need to see him. Is there any chance of saving him? He's not infected with that virus too, is he?"

"No. he nearly burned to death and his recovery has not been successful with my blood. He needs something stronger." Pam paused. "We need to go now if we are to be successful."

"Then let's go." Sookie said. "Where abouts is he anyway? Fangtasia?"

"Sweden. In the mountains." Pam replied and before Sookie could reply, Pam had wrapped Sookie up in a coat, gloves and boots that she had kept on the porch and they took off into the sky.


	3. Revelations

**Chapter 3**

She shivered but knew it could be worse had Pam not had been so kind as to bring her some warm attire. They walked to the hole in the ground where the tunnel led to the small ice cave Pam had managed to carve out to give her and Eric more room. Pam helped Sookie down into the deep pit and into the cave. Thanks to some flashlights Pam had procured from nearby Stockholm, they could see their way to the injured Eric. Draped in blankets that Pam had since brought down, Eric was peaceful looking as he rested but still gravely injured. "Hey there." Pam nudged him gently on the arm. "I brought you something. I'll leave you alone for a little bit, I hate sappy reunions." rolling her eyes at Sookie, she smirked at the fairy as she flew from the cave.

He looked at her and smiled. "I didn't think you would come. Not after you rescinded my invitation to your home."

She moved the blankets off of him and took in the gravity of the situation. "Oh my god….." she whispered as se replaced the blankets. "I never meant to hurt you….I was wrong. Selfish. All I wanted was a impossible dream. I life a peaceful, normal life, but with everything I have gone through, I suppose this is normal for me." she started to cry. "I never realized how much you meant to me until Pam told me everything. It woke up feelings I tried to put away. I was scared and stupid."

He laughed as he took a hand and cupped her cheek. "You are plenty of things, but stupid is not one of them."

Sookie shook her head. "On the way here Pam said she found you here with a book and a lounge chair. No clothes either?" she raised a eyebrow and gave him a small smile. "Needed a vacation, did we?"

He grimaced as a shot of pain raced through him. "I have never really had a….vacation….I just needed to clear my head and think."

"About taking your own life. About going out like Godric did and leave others behind to mourn you?" Sookie said as she patted him gently on the head. "I couldn't imagine a world without you and I hate that it took this happening to make me realize it. I am sorry about that awful camp…..and about Nora. Pam brought me up to speed. I've been busy with the whole Warlow thing, among other issues."

"I know. And it would seem that judging by my current state that there is no more Lilith to worry about?"

"No…Bill lost the powers he had, vamps can't be in the daytime anymore and hell, Bill ain't so much of an asshole anymore." Sookie sighed as she pulled up her sleeve. "Now, I think its time to take care of you….I don't know how much I can give you to speed things up though."

"As long as you are here with me…..I think I will heal just fine." he closed his eyes and tried to sit up. But instead she lowered her wrist to his mouth and closed her eyes tightly as she waited for the stinging pinch she knew all too well. But it didn't come. He was too weak still.

"you really are worse that I thought." Sookie said. "You can't even get your fangs out. Let me help you." she bit her own wrist and let the blood flow into his mouth. As the seconds went by and he took in more of her blood, she began to feel light headed and had to draw her arm back. Dizzy and tired from the trip over, she passed out, her head landing on his broad chest.

He lay there, feeling the magic of her blood slowly course though him. It would take some more as well as some luck for him to get out of this cave. Pam entered cautiously, seeing the weakened fairy and the Viking lying so close to each other. She was not sure if she liked his expression. "I know that look…you're troubled."

He stared straight ahead, a brief glance at Sookie. "Move her somewhere she'll be more comfortable. I don't know exactly how I feel at this moment."

Pam gently carried Sookie over to another area of the small cave she had managed to create. Making sure she was covered with enough blankets, she settled herself beside her maker. "You're not as happy to see her as you think you should be." she said flatly and to the point.

"She rejected me not only once but twice. I thought I understood, that I could see why she rescinded my invitation after I signed her house back to her. But then she comes here, the smell of wolf mingled with her own…I wonder if she came here out of guilt rather than anything else."

Hating to see him even more in pain than he already was, Pam said nothing but curled up closer to him. "Well, if she's got no plans to get back with you, then I think it would be safe to say our new friendship will be the shortest friendship on record."

"Always looking out for me." he replied, closing his eyes. "I think I am starting to feel better."

"I cant see any bones anymore, the flesh is healing up nicely." Pam said as she uncovered him and looked at him from head to toe, seeing perfectly well in the dark thanks to her vampire vision. To be sure, she scanned him over again using a flashlight but again, was hopeful by what she saw. "Did I tell you not to fucking scare me like that again?"

He laughed gently, all the while Sookie had her eyes open. And she had heard the entire conversation.


	4. Emotional

**Chapter 4**

She didn't know hot long she had lay there just thinking about what they had been talking about. She felt even more guilty now, thinking back on the evolution of her relationship with the Viking. From hate and disgust to respect and lust, she knew she still carried a torch for him. Of that she knew there was no use trying to hide from that fact. But she could tell she had caused him great pain and didn't really know what would become of their future. After all, she was with Alcide now. But for how long, now with everything going on in the here and now was up in the air.

The sun was shining brightly, the light filtering down into the icy cave as Sookie noticed that Pam was up and about, ignoring the bleeds she had gotten as she pulled him deeper into the cave, for fear of him getting even the tiniest bit of sunlight onto him. Pam watched as Sookie emerged from the pile of blankets that enveloped her and scooted over to Eric's side. "How is he? He looks a little better. I can't see any bone poking out anymore."

"Yeah, his skin and muscle has healed up a little faster thanks to your blood." Pam said, her voice a little shaky. "So. When he is all better, are you still going to go run back to that furball? I have to know. To perhaps help soften the blow for him when he finds out." Pam still liked Sookie and her spunk. But when it came to her maker, she was not about to let anyone off the hook for wronging him. Or breaking his heart all over again.

Sookie looked at Pam with a hard stare. "I am not about to just make a decision about my life just because he is hurt. Yes, I care about him and I never wanted him to be hurt. By burning or by my actions. But I have a lot of thinking to do. And I can't let anyone, fanged or not, rush me." she settled down next to his head and stroked his blonde hair. "He's exhausted…..I've never seen him like this."

Pam shook her head and took on a slightly more gentle tone. "He told me whenever he has been awake of the things he went through in that torture camp. Forced to watch as his sister was given what would turn out to be a lethal injection. All the while he was shackled, helpless to stop it. Not to mention he held her as she disintigrated in his arms. For a thousand years of existence, I think he has had enough pain and suffering for twice that long." she yawned. "I think I'll go get some rest, I won't be any good to him if I'm a hot mess." She slunk away to the darkest corner of the cave and though she didn't really need them, buried herself in several layers of blankets leaving Sookie alone with the fallen vampire, lost in unconsciousness, partly from the fact that the sun was out and simply because he had come so perilously close to the true death.

"I don't know if you can hear me or not…..but part of me hopes you can't because I…..well, I think I know what I need to do. I am going to keep seeing Alcide. I know you will be angry and probably hate me. But I need to know if what I feel about him is strong enough. And I don't want you to think you're just the back up. I need to do this for me. For us, if that is even a possibility any more. I know you're angry at me. Hurt, for how I have treated you and I don't expect that you will forgive me anytime soon. What I do know is that I am having Pam take me home, there's nothing else I can do, I can't give you any more blood or I'll get sick." she started to sob. "I just know that right now, all I want is for you to pull through and for things to work out for both of us. I am so sorry for what you've been through. The losses, the hurt I keep causing you….." Sookie stopped talking and crawled back to her makeshift sleeping area where she cried herself to sleep.


	5. Rejection

**Chapter 5**

Sookie was dropped back off on her porch the next night as Pam returned to tend to Eric. He had not regained consciousness as far as Sookie knew, though she knew it entirely possible he simply didn't want to talk to her any longer, that he was as angry and hurt at her as she suspected. Alcide was sitting on the couch in the living room, looking furious and no sooner had she entered the house, he rushed up to her and hugged her. "I thought you were going to be quicker than that. Not even a phone call?"

"Hard to get reception in the middle of nowhere. In the mountains." Sookie replied. "Sorry I missed our date. Maybe we can go out for dinner, if its not too late and you haven't cleared out the fridge?"

Alcide stared at her a moment then gave her a half smile. "I would be willing to guess that this isn't really going to be a date but rather a goodbye. You love him, don't you?" he sounded more sad than anything else. "I think you always have and maybe you do feel for me too but not as strongly."

Sookie shook her head. "I need to give us a chance, to see. I don't want to lead anyone on and besides, after what I said to Eric before I left him at the cave, I doubt he will even want to give me the time of day ever again."

He looked at her with pity. "Well….whatever you need to do. I can't lie and say I'm not upset by what may happen between us. But I will always be there for you. Nothing will ever change that."

And within the hour, they were cleaned up and sitting in a cozy corner booth at the newly minted Bellefleur's Bar and Grill. The new Mayor and former owner of the bar, Sam, was holding court in a newly added expanded dining area. Things were being set into motion thanks to the help of Bill Compton in the attempt to fight off the mutated hep-v virus infected vampires. By pairing healthy humans with non-infected vamps to feed off of them the hope was to stop the disease from spreading. Sam had told Sookie though that if necessary, vamps with the mutated virus would need to be staked if and when seen. Until such a time came when possibly a cure could be figured out. Bill was all over that part, trying to see who could do such a thing. Sending samples of the blood of a staked hep-v vamp to the best scientists in the world, they were hopeful that this newest threat could be taken care of swiftly, to prevent bloodshed on both the vamp and human side.

They were enjoying their steak dinners and talking in a friendly manner when Sookie took a sip of her wine and looked at Alcide, his eyes looking back into hers. She took his hands into hers and reached over and kissed him gently on the lips, unaware that Pam had been watching them through the crowd.

_Two months later_

No one had told her as much but driving into Shreveport, she saw the flashy new advertisements on the billboards and on fliers put on cars. Fangtasia was to reopen that night. She had seen nor heard from Pam or Eric since she had returned from the mountain and she felt a sense of dread entering her as she waited for the bar to open that night. The outside had a new coat of white paint but otherwise looked the same was it had the last time she had been there. Standing outside to check id was not Pam but Tara, looking as good as ever. Life as a vampire had certainly been better to her than life ever had been when she was a human. "Hey Tara."

Tara looked surprised to see her best friend. "Hey Sook." she replied slowly. "Grand reopening, as you can see. Apparently all the rules that Governor Burell had put in place against vamps have been made unlawful and here we are. You're looking for Eric, aren't you?"

"Maybe." Sookie replied slowly. "Why? Is he here or no?"

"Pam told me about what happened and I know you've been through a lot. I can relate. But you may be being too hopeful to come here, what with your new boy toy and all. I've gotten pretty tight with him and Pam, like you know. And Willa. My new vampire family. Never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth but life is fucking full of surprises. Glad to finally get ones that ain't so shitty. But as weird as it seems, its kinda nice having my mama back in my life. Not that I've completely forgiven her or trust her yet. But I think she just may be trying to fix our relationship. I think she knows if she tries any funny shit, that it will be the last thing she does."

Sookie knew how Lettie Mae had been to Tara for her whole life and she too hoped that there could be some kind of peace of not a friendly relationship between them. "Good luck with that Tara." she hugged her friend who returned the gesture. A little too tightly. "Ouch, I think I may get a bruise from that hug."

Tara pulled out of the hug and looked pleadingly at Sookie. "I really hope that you two can get things resolved. I know that he has been hurting over you, not that he would ever admit it. He's even resorted to letting fans take pics with him. And keeping them. He likes the attention, maybe gets off on it."

Remembering the time she had seen someone take a picture of him only to have their cell phone destroyed, Sookie frowned. It certainly sounded out of character for him. "I'll go talk to him." and as she entered the bar, she was comforted to see nothing had changed. the throne up on the raised platform was empty for the time being while Pam was working the bar. Her eyes met Sookie's and she saw there was a fire and a anger in them that she was trying hard to restrain. Hurriedly, Sookie made her way through the crowd and to the closed door of his office.

She let herself in, opening the door slowly, wondering if he was even in here, or if she was somehow being set up, retaliated against by Pam, Eric or both. For all she knew, Tara and Willa could be a part of some plan to get back at her for leaving the mountain. There, seated behind the desk, poring over bills and paperwork for the bar, Eric was seated, dressed in a pale blue t-shirt and black jeans. There were new photos on the bookshelf behind him, the faces of Pam, Willa and Tara featuring prominently. Then there was a single group photo of all four of them, clearly taken in the bar, Eric in the throne as the three women were perched around him. Sookie gulped as she noticed there was another photo added to the collection. It was one of herself from sometime she couldn't put her finger on at the moment. "Hello Sookie." Eric said, not taking his attention from the papers around him.

"I came to talk to you. I know it's been a couple of months but…I didn't know how else to go about this. I waited to hear any word from you, I tried calling you and when I saw the fliers of the reopening of the bar, I had to figure, hope, you were back."

"Clearly, I am." he replied, looking up for a moment, blue eyes ablaze. "Thanks for the goodbye back at the mountain. I heard everything you said to Pam before you had her bring you back to Louisiana. SO I don't really see why you're here when you've got that wolf back home."

"Is that really how you would want to leave things between us?" Sookie asked as she approached the desk slowly. "I couldn't do anything more for you and I needed to get back to my life here. But never once, did I not think, hope that you would heal from what you went through."

"I healed as you can also see. Physically anyway. But I can not sit here and look at you. I will not be a part of your parade of suitors anymore, relegated to the back seat and come to when its convenient." he was beginning to raise his voice and in a burst of anger, shot up and punched a hole in the wall, the room shaking and Sookie jumping with fear. "Get out." he said, "thanks for the blood and I hope you and the wolf have a nice life together. Maybe it would have been for the best if I had burned on the mountain. Burned to nothing. Would you have truly cared, I wonder if that had been what had become of me, even after everything we have been through together. I may have made my mistakes with you but I have shown more loyalty to you than you ever have towards me. Get. Out." His fangs popped out in a surge of anger and it was very frightening to see his anger bubbling up and directed squarely at her.

Sookie's face was red as tears streamed down her face. Pam was in the room now. Grabbing Sookie, she pulled her towards the exit. "I believe you've been dismissed, fairy princess."

Sookie called out, a last desperate attempt. "I broke up with Alcide. We decided we're better off as friends. And I think somehow, I suspected that would always be the case." she was dragged further and further away from the office but there was no sign of the Viking coming after her, to stop her from driving back to Bon Temps. And so she was left unceremoniously at her car, Pam not giving her a second look, though Tara gave her a small, sad and sympathetic look before the shaken Sookie began the drive back home, empty handed and broken hearted.


	6. Resolution

**Chapter 6**

Willa and Tara stared out at the fading tail lights of Sookie's car as it vanished into the night. "I don't know her, but from what you told me about her, she is a good person….I felt bad seeing her leave like that. But I guess if I have to pick sides, I have to go with my maker, right?"

Tara looked at the vampire beside her. "I hated Eric Northman from the moment I first met him then I found out he had my cousin locked in the basement of this place for days and days. I wanted nothing more than to stake that bastard. But now I'm part of his family and have gotten to know him and his past…..he's ok, I guess." Tara sighed. "I hate seeing him like this, he's not quite the badass he once was. After the nearly burning to death incident at the mountain, he came back different and the reason why just drove away."

"He gave me a new and better life." Willa replied. "He freed me from my father's hate and cruelty, though I still don't know just exactly how I feel about that other vampire killing my dad. I mean, he was my dad after all. But I suppose with the things he had done and was planning to do, he did need to be stopped."

"Excuse me, I think its your shift to take the pole and you, Willa, to bartend. Enough of the girl talk, you're on our time. Pam interrupted as she bolted through the front door. The two younger vamps did as they were told as Pam went back towards the office, hearing things shatter and break as she came closer. When she opened the door, she saw him holding his sword usually affixed to the wall, glass, wood chunks and all kinds of debris littered around the room. As she stared at the destruction, she walked up to him, his back was to her. Getting in his face, she was taken aback for a moment as she saw the streaks of bloody tears on his face. "You are completely in shambles. You can do better than that fairy waitress. She has only brought you more misery than you need and besides, she is mortal. Do you really think you and her would ever last long anyway?"

His eyes widened in anger. "I am not one to give up easily and you know that. I should not have let her leave so easily. But the sun will be up shortly. Go to ground. Now." he growled at her, fighting the impulse to physically eject her from the room. Giving him a final concerned look, Pam knew better than to disobey and swept from the room. Within the next couple hours, the three vampires-Pam, Willa and Tara were preparing to enter their bedrooms they had just moved into in the sprawling, stately, fortress like house of Eric. He had offered them better accommodations than the coffins that were in the basement of Fangtasia and they were all eager for the offer. They all knew how lonely he was and that after what he had went through, family was that much more important to him now.

He slipped out of the house as soon as the sun had gone down, taking off into the air and landing in front of a very familiar yellow farmhouse. He saw her in the upstairs window and could see she had appeared to have been crying and was about to start all over again. He levitated upward, not wanting to frighten her. He looked in the window and saw her lying on her bed, her face looking towards the window. Her eyes were closed as he could hear her hiccupping and sniffling. Gently, he rapped at the glass and she opened her eyes, meeting his concerned gaze. For a moment, she didn't move, she almost looked scared. But scooting off of her bed, she walked to the window and pushed it open.

"Hey." he said softly. "I came to…apologize." this was a word that he seldom used and was not eager to use at this moment. "May I come in and speak with you?" he asked.

"Sure." She replied softly and she stepped backward to let him enter. She sat on the foot of her bed. "Are you here to lecture me more, to make me feel worse than I already do? Why you didn't tear me to pieces and scatter me across your office, I really don't know. I have become a terrible person. Looking back on things I've said and done as of late…..it's like I lost track of who I am. And I don't like the Sookie I have been. Not a bit. And yet here you are, furious at me yet I remain on one piece."

He knelt at her feet and looked up into her face. "No. you know my temper…..you should see my office now, come to think of it." he smiled gently. "I think I may need to hire the cleaners overtime to fix that mess." he paused. "I can not begin to say how sorry I am for how I acted. I should have considered how you were feeling. This past few months, weeks…still now, part of me wishes that I did meet the true death on that mountain top."

"Please don't say that." Sookie replied, her hands shaking as she took his into hers and looked at his stained face, seeing the red stains running down his pale face. "You look exhausted, you've got the bleeds." she got up and went to her small bathroom, returning with a warm and wet washcloth. As she cleaned his face and ears, he looked at her with a sad expression. "What is it?" she asked as she went to put the dirty cloth in the hamper.

"All I have been through, seen and done. The people I have lost. No one has affected me as much as you have. And it's not the fairy blood, I came to realize that not too long after I first met you. You're tough and compassionate. Brave and scared. You are the perfect mix of weakness and strength. I have been given something back that I did not think I wanted back. Bill was right to want to fight for keeping his humanity. Had I not regained some of mine, perhaps I never would have found the happiness I have had with you. Or Pam or even Tara and Willa. I want to try again, Sookie."

Thinking back on the time they spent together over the past many weeks and months, especially the time she had fallen hard for him when he had had amnesia thanks to a witches' curse, she teared up all over again. "I wish I could give you back the things you have lost over the centuries, I really do. You've suffered enough. I want to be with you. And only you. No matter how little time we may have together."

"So, now what?" he asked. "Begin again?"

She smiled as she pulled him into a hug. "Begin again." she agreed. Outside, there came a terrible noise and they raced to the window to see a ravenous band of vampires, almost zombie like in their movements, drifting through Sookie's driveway and into the nearby cemetery.

The End…until the next story of my TB season 7 J


End file.
